MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1590

This painting offers a glimpse into the visual culture of asceticism in early modern India, where artists frequently represented holy men gathered in forest settings, emphasizing both their spiritual discipline and the communal aspects of devotional life. At the center of the composition, a small sacred fire burns as several holy men sit around it, participating in acts of devotion and preparation. A closely comparable composition appears in a folio from an album produced during the reign of Shah Jahan, now in the British Museum (1920,0917,0.277.2). Our figures are rendered with more delicate line work and restrained shading, reflecting the refined craftsmanship characteristic of Indian miniature traditions.

Their varied gestures – smoking a pipe, grinding ingredients, playing a musical instrument, or tending the fire – suggest the rhythms of communal ascetic life. The arrangement of the figures around the fire creates a balanced circular composition that emphasizes the centrality of ritual practice. Another later example is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (1985.398.15), depicting a smaller group of ascetics, rendered in a similar manner to ours. Another comparable work by the Mughal artist Sankar, circa 1600, was in the collection of Ludwig Habighorst (J.P. Losty, Indian Paintings from the Ludwig Habighorst Collection, Francesca Galloway exhibition catalogue, London, 2018, no.24, pp.84-85).